


I Was An Island

by Zexionienzo



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2017-12-16 10:15:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/860942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zexionienzo/pseuds/Zexionienzo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave was an island. Before Karkat came along; put his boat in his sand, his hand in his hand, his heart in his song.<br/>Dave was a fighter. And he was so brave, till Karkat came to town, pushed him around, and showed him what love was. <br/>Dave can't do this alone anymore. Cause Dave's no good on his own any more.What did he do to deserve this? What did Karkat do to him? Karkat come back, you know Dave doesn't wanna be free.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Valhalla

In the halls of Valhalla lie in rest the souls of ancient and magnificent warriors. These souls travel freely through the great corridors and rooms of this heavenly kingdom, forever content in their restful afterlife. The feasts are plentiful and filling, the game and grounds full of wonder and magic to entertain these ferocious fighters who gave their lives to protect their people. These soldiers of the Gods are always happy and grateful that they, among so many thousands of their fellow men, were chosen to be represented among the best in the golden, shining halls of the castle of the great. Well, most of them were. Enter, David Strider. He and his brother, Dirk, fought in the great Scratch War. The two fought as an unbeatable team to defeat the majority of Doctor Scratch's army, depleting his forces in order to recapture the stolen scrolls held so dearly by the people of the Land of Heat and Clockwork. But the two, as they were escaping the enemy's chambers with the scrolls in hand, were captured, and Doc Scratch hung them in his dungeon, letting them rot away until merciful death finally closed their lids, silence upon his lips.  
When the brothers awoke upon the hills of Valhalla, they were praised and cherished for their heroic deeds, their high placement in the magnificent halls coveted by many others of the kingdoms' soldiers. They got their own quarters in the castle, holding the status of Knights. Dirk took to their new home immediately. He took part in many of the competitions among the soldiers, and even found a life-long partner, something rare in the halls of the fallen, as most were men. Dave on the other hand, did not adjust so well. Unlike his brother, Dave had already found a life-long partner in the earthly realm, and had planned on performing his native Joining Ceremony when he'd returned from the war. Upon arrival in Valhalla, and realizing that his dearly beloved was millions of miles below him on a completely different plane of reality, Dave, although he refused to show it, was devastated. To enhance Dave's gloomy nature, the soldiers of Valhalla upon entry take on an unearthly form to enhance their godly appearance and stature. Dave, in his transformation, had developed magnificent gold and orange, angelic wings and sharp, black talons to represent his faithful worship to the god of the Sun and fire, as well as his ability to soar through the battlefield like a fierce hawk, clawing his prey and staking them to their death with his obsidian sword. His bird-like form caused him great annoyance when he first began learning to operate his new body. And even after he'd gained control of his new limbs, he was much cause for laughs among the other soldiers, who, in Dave's opinion, had much more fierce and noble changes to their appearance. The only solace Dave ever seemed to find in the shinning halls of his home was the Hall of Light. This room was in a far off edge of the Castle, not often treaded upon. Here, in this circular room made of dark gray stone and marble, windows lined the walls framed in gold and other magnificent jewels in all different shades and hues. Through these windows, one could see the human world. The room was designed to give reassurance to apprehensive hero's who thought they'd not completed their mission and were undeserving of their titles. Dave used the room to search for his lost love in the human world. But every time Dave thought he was close to finding him, the window would change its view to another part of the world, causing Dave great frustration and anguish.   
Dirk, being the only one to see past his brother's facade of cool and collect mind, urged Dave to refrain from going to the Hall of Light, and to instead search the rest of the castle for some form of entertainment to keep his young mind off his troubles. Dave tried. He honestly did his best to find some good in his own death, but he could find nothing. In searching the castle up and down, Dave was able to find John, a boy not yet a man, but no longer a child, who had saved his entire village from the threat of the ferocious Imp Army using nothing but the nearby river, a huge wind mill used to help harvest grain, and his fathers' smithy hammer. Dave befriended the black-haired boy, and in turn, John sometimes helped Dave forget about his past with his pranks, and encouraged Dave to find hobbies of his own to pursue while in the halls of the great and powerful. So Dave pursued the art of music, and continued to search ways in which he could end his suffering at the ruthless hand of nostalgia. Nothing, however, seemed to work completely and Dave often found himself feeling suffocated under the weight of grief as he tried to sleep in his down pillows and cotton sheets.   
So Dave continued to go to the Hall of Light, always in search for his long lost lover. For hundreds of years, Dave spent in sorrow and search, until one day John told him about a secret door he'd found that was meant to led to the Queen of Valhalla. The Dolorosa, a just and noble woman, watched over her fallen soldiers, searching for the ones with the noblest and bravest hearts who so deserved to roam her ancient halls. It was rumored that this kind, mother-like figure-head of the celestial palace could grant the wishes of her warriors, if they were unhappy in her kingdom. John warned Dave however, that no one he'd ever heard of had ever been granted her assistance, for she only showed herself to those she truly believed deserved and required her help. So Dave continued his search in the Hall of Light, convinced that if he actually found his partner, the mysterious Dolorosa would show herself and give Dave the help he needed to finally be reunited with him. The years were long and tedious, and Dave suffered even more, with that bright inkling of hope held in front of him, like a dog to a bone, just out of his reach.   
It went on like this for many more years, until one Summer day, when the flowers were in full bloom and a gentle breeze (thanks to John and his control of the winds) blew through the castle, Dave finally spotted him. He was in the farthest window from the door, sitting on a bed in a dark room, holding a frayed book in his pale hands. The carpeted floor was littered with garbage, video game controllers (an invention Dave knew little about, but often enjoyed watching the humans play), and DVD boxes. But nothing could stray Dave's attention from the one sitting there. He gazed in awe as the boy laid down and rested his head upon the black pillows and furrowed his brows in concentration as his deep red eyes, so like Dave's own (a feature common in the people from his land), scanned the words on the page with fervor, reading all the knowledge he could ascertain. Dave felt the happiness grow and pump through his veins as if giving a renewed beating to his heart. The desire to reach out and ruffle his hands through that white hair was unbearable- but as Dave stretched out his hand to pass through the window, the image within it faded and melted away at his touch. Dave screamed in anguish, running frantically from window to window to try and see him again, but it was to no avail, for the moment was gone. Dave fell to the cold stone floor in a heap of grief and frustration.   
As Dave shamelessly let the tears flow down his pale cheeks, a glowing, warm presence appeared in the center of the room, filling it with an intense light that shattered all the images around them and leaving Dave looking up, eyes wide in shock and awe, tears still streaming down his cheeks. The Dolorosa flattened the layered skirts of her flowing black and green gown, settling her eyes on the sorry sight of Dave, looking more like a baby bird with a shattered wing than a fierce warrior. The woman, skin glowing luminescent, smiled gently and reached out her hand to help her poor soldier stand. Dave took it graciously and bowed before the beautiful woman in front of him.   
“Hello Dave. It seems that something is amiss here, am I correct?” her words flowed from her lips like a babbling creek, soothing Dave's mind as he nodded his head and the Dolorosa wiped the remaining tears from his face.   
“What is the problem, young one?” The woman gracefully settled herself into a bench along the wall, motioning for Dave to sit beside her. The warrior took a deep, shaky breath before he spoke-he wasn't sure he was of completely sound mind and body to handle the correct courtesy and service he was sure was required of him in the presence of the woman who had given him the opportunity to be among the greatest and the best heroes of all time.   
Dave told the Dolorosa his story, how he'd woken up separated from the love of his life, and had waited hundreds, if not thousands of years, just to catch a single glimpse of him again. The Dolorosa listened intently, and at the end of his tale, surprised Dave with a warm embrace. Dave felt warmth build up in his bones and a kind of calm filled his mind.   
“So you're wish is to be with your love again?” Dave nodded his head, heart beating wildly in his chest. Was this an actual possibility?  
“Very well then. I must warn you, in order to be with him, you must fall down to Earth for that is the realm he traverses through, and has not yet or ever has been a warrior and so can not come here to yours. This will be a trial of your ultimate servitude, David Strider from the Land of Heat and Clockwork. Human vessels do not last forever, and so you will have one year with your lover on Earth. In that time, you must prove that he is, in fact, the one you have loved for all these years. It is quite possible the boy you saw in the image was only a look alike. You must also prove, if it is in fact him, that the two of you would be worthy of the eternal love of heroes saved from the terrors of living on Earth. When your feet touch the floor of the Earthen realm, you will be unable to make contact with or remember much of the Celestial realm you inhabit currently. You will be blind in your voyage, having nothing to follow and guide you but the faith you hold in yourself and the one you cherish below. Is this all clear to you, David Strider?” Dave thought that one year was hardly enough time to spend with the one he'd been separated from for so long, but he would make it the best and last year of his life- celestial or otherwise. He refused to be alone again. And so, nodding his head, the Dolorosa smiled and patted Dave's head.   
“Very well. I will give you an hour to say goodbye to your brother and friends here, and then I will take you to him.” Dave stood from his seat and started towards the door, wings flapping excitedly in his wake.   
“Oh, and one more thing Dave, before you depart.” The taloned warrior turned around, staring wide eyed and expectant at the glowing woman.   
“He won't remember who you are. It has been too long and he has traveled through too many lives, been reincarnated too many times to remember his first life. But he will have never loved anyone as truly as he's loved you. That is something that can not be forgot. Keep this in mind.” Dave nodded his head, and turned from the glowing woman. It was difficult to say goodbye to John and his brother, but they both promised they would keep close watch on him, and the mere trace of remembrance of his red eyed lover below made his heart jump into his throat and his palms get all sweaty. He was a living, breathing stereotypical girl in love, and he couldn't have given less shits.   
For he was going to a mystical place called “New York” during a mysterious time period called by many, “The 80's”...


	2. What the shit dude

In the halls of Skaia, Dorm building number five at Alternia University, lie in rest the souls of angsty, teen-aged and young adult students. These students roam the halls with as much loathing for their professors as there is for the unscrupulous amounts of work given them. The moldy walls are home to faded paintings of fruit and landscapes, as well as the infamous Mayor, a tabby cat that had been forgotten by a long since graduated or drop-out student, and now was the responsibility of all the students who called Alternia their home. All the students came from fabulously wealthy families who had the power to get their children accepted to this high-rate school of class and prestige. Well, most of them were. Enter, Karkat Vantas. Orphaned at the age of six due to a heart-breaking fire, he was placed into foster care and traveled the country from family to family- all unaccepting of his odd appearance and fierce disposition. But Karkat refused to let the “dick-whiffing fuck scum” of his life prevent him from getting a top-rate education and excelling marvelously at every academic challenge placed in front of him.   
Thus, The Board of Admissions were highly impressed by his successes and immediately offered him a full ride to their University, as long as he maintained the high grades that granted him access to the educated land of the Holy. And so, leaving his troubled past behind him, ready to forget all of the horrors that hardened him up during his youth, Karkat moved all of his belongings into dorm room 413. Originally meant to be a two-person dorm, Karkat was gifted with the option of occupying this large dorm space by himself. Always having to share a room with another little shit in whatever house he'd been staying in, Karkat gladly took the opportunity. Karkat took to his studies at once, building his knowledge up as high and as wide as it could go. He didn't participate in the extracurricular, worrisome that it would affect his academic standings, and despised most, if not all, the “snotty fuck wads” that were deemed his peers. One such individual was Gamzee Makara. From a family who owned a large corporation for tobacco, Gamzee was admitted to Alternia University, regardless of his poor grades and his own wishes to attend a more suitable school for the culinary arts. So he wasted his days away creating his own concoction of “miraculous” smoking products. Makara, by some grace of the gods managed to befriend his stubborn counterpart, and thinking it applaud able that he actually wanted to do something with his life other than smoke away his four years at a prestigious, snooty college, Karkat allowed the friendship to come into culmination. And so the two, a seemingly unfit pair, thrived in one another's company. When Karkat was particularity stressed about his school work, Gamzee would know how to make him relax. And like wise when Gamzee needed help in getting his grades up to a passing level, Karkat was there to help him out.   
On one particular day, Gamzee had just finished selling one of his “little miracles” to a fellow student, and was walking Karkat to his one o'clock World Mythological Literature class. Karkat was in a particularly horrid mood due to his neighbors’ abhorrent ruckus of the previous night. Sure, it was the last night of a long weekend off, but did that really gives the fuck-holes who lived next door the right to throw a raver and disrupt the whole floor, if not the whole dorm building? In all honesty, if Karkat thought it out, he was probably the only one not invited, and thussly the only one bothered by the noise, but still. Karkat pretended to listen to Gamzee's ramblings as they traversed across the campus, but simply did not have the will-power to deal with his best friends “miracles” that day.   
“Alright my rad little mother fucker. I think this is where you and I will all up and be parting ways. That chill with you, Karbro?” Karkat rolled his eyes in response.  
“Of course it is, fuck wad. I have a class to attend and actually learn shit while you go and smoke your lungs to a black, crusty death.” Gamzee smiled widely at the shorter man next to him and patted his shoulder.   
“You sure do know your stuff, man. I'll see ya later.”  
“Whatever.”   
Karkat took his seat in the far back corner of the classroom, hoping to not gain any attention by any of the other douche bags who took this class. He slouched in his chair, took out his marble black composition, college-ruled notebook. The cover was filled with doodles and pen marks for when he was particularly bored out of his mind, and was one of his praised possessions. In traveling from family to family and school to school, Karkat never really had a solid set of school supplies, but notebooks were the one thing that were easy to transport and keep track of. So to be able to have one of those few staple items with him at all times gave him an odd sense of security, as it they were on of the few things that connected him from home to home; a single constant in his ever-changing childhood.   
The classroom began to fill up. The students would come in, bored and empty expressions on their faces as they took their seats and pulled out a pen or pencil, and maybe a sheet of paper to take notes on. Everything that happened in every class was almost always the same. The students would be void of any passion for their education and futures, and would stare blankly ahead as the professor lectured about these amazing things, that Karkat began to assume only he took appreciation for. This class for instance, was an elective not many chose unless they were a literature major or needed an easy A to fill their schedules. But Karkat, a major in linguistics, took this class because the information it provided on the cultures and lives of people of the past absolutely fascinated him. He loved that he could read books and epic poems from Ancient Greece and learn, all in one, about their religion, food, daily lives, economics, and military endeavors. So when the professor came into the classroom, Karkat sat up, attentive and ready to suck up knowledge like a sponge. The professor began to speak about Roman mythology and the parallels between the Roman and Greek myths, when, very suddenly, the door slammed open.   
Everyone in the room turned to look at the intruder. Karkat looked him up and down, trying to figure out what kind of asshole this interrupting shit stain was. The kid was clad in red converse sneakers, black jeans that hung a little too loose on his hips adorned his long legs; on his torso was a red and white base-ball t-shirt with what looked like an image of a cracked c.d. On its front, and upon his face a pair of aviators- the kind with the reflective lens so that if you were looking at a person wearing them, you could never really see the expression on their face.   
“Sorry to interrupt, but is this Mr. Noir's class for World Mythological Literature?” The asshole swung his head to the side so his pale blond hair, which on close inspection, looked almost white to Karkat, was out of his face and raised his light eyebrows expectantly at the professor. 

“Yeah. Any reason you came to my class in the middle of a lesson? Or are you just here to give me a hard time?” The kid smirked at the professor, and damn he might have been kinda hot if he weren't such an insufferable prick... Karkat shook his head. No use thinking shit like that. This kid was just another stuck up asshole who thought he could waltz in here and be all cool and shit. Karkat had had enough of these snotty fuckers.   
“Name's Strider, Dave Strider. I'm a transfer student. Sorry for coming late, I got lost. Big campus, yanno?” The professor glared at this “Dave Strider” character. Who even has a name like that?   
“Just take a seat and don't interrupt my class again, Strider.” Dave looked up at all the kids in their seats as if he was searching row by row for something. Karkat followed what he could only assume was Dave's gaze and noticed that the only open seat was the one to his right. Karkat inwardly groaned as the douche bag made his way to the back of the classroom and plopped down in the seat next to him. The professor began to speak again, and Karkat did his best to pay attention. But this, however, was difficult to do when someone was staring at you painfully obviously. Dave had his head resting in his hand and his arm hung lazily over the back side of his chair, his whole body facing Karkat's direction. It distracted him to the point where he wasn't even listening to the professor anymore. What the hell was this guy’s problem?! What was so interesting about him that Dave had to devote all of his attention to Karkat's presence?   
“Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer, douche bag.” Karkat glared at the boy next to him. Dave only let a small twitch of his lips break his otherwise stoic expression.   
“Don't have a camera. Name's Dave by the way.” Karkat stared at Dave's out-stretched hand like it contained a deadly and vicious contagious disease.  
“Yeah, I gathered that much from your implorrable introduction earlier, now would you leave me alone? Believe it or not, some people actually have a future to look forward to and wouldn't mind broadening the wealth of knowledge in their brains.” Karkat then turned away from this total ASSHOLE and back to the lesson, but Dave didn't seem fazed by Karkat at all and continued to stare at him, or at least gander in his general direction, like he was some rare and never-before-seen animal at the petting zoo.   
When the hour finally ended, Karkat bolted from his seat and exited the room as quickly as possible to avoid the creep inside. The day had gone from shitty to worse as Karkat realized that it was pouring rain and Gamzee had his umbrella.   
“Fuck that clown asshole and his fucking smokes. Why can't, for once, I be the one with that dumb as fuck umbrella!” Karkat seethed in the doorway of the building as he waited for the rain to let up-there was no way he was going to run around and get wet in this horrifying weather.   
“Need a dry space?” Karkat groaned as he turned to find Dave, standing in the doorway opposite him, umbrella in hand.   
“I think I would rather drown in a freezing puddle of this torrential downpour than share an umbrella with you, as that would cause me to be within close proximity of your vile existence.” Karkat growled before taking a step out into the rain, immediately shivering at its cold wetness. Dave didn't move from his position in the doorway, umbrella still outstretched.   
“Then here, take mine.” Karkat swirled around, just being in the rain for about ten seconds drenching him through.   
“And what good would that do now, asshole? I look like I just took a swim in the fucking ocean, you fuckass. Take a hint and leave me the fuck alone.” And with that, Karkat left Dave alone in the doorway and stomped off to his next class. Dave stood under his recently acquired umbrella in the rain, rubbing the back of his neck.   
“Well. This is gonna be harder than I thought.”   
**  
Karkat was sitting Gamzee's dorm room on his roommate, Tavros's, bed, while Gamzee was making one of his infamous pies. Karkat, still realing about his encounter with Dave, was ranting while Gamzee listened intently.   
“And he stared at me the whole fucking class like I was some fucking exhibit at the national museum of freaks gone wild. Seriously what was with that prick? And THEN he had the audacity to offer me his fucking umbrella, but since he was such a weirdo douche I couldn’t accept his pathetic attempt at chivalry and had to walk all the way back here in the fucking rain, and get drenched by this torrential down pour. Like. Are you fucking joking? Just when shit couldn’t have gotten worse.” Karkat got up half way through his rant and began pacing the room, Gamzee’s lidded, violet eyes following his movements lazily.   
“Aw, come one bro, this little mother fucker doesn’t sound all that bad. He’s just all up and getting to know a cute face like yours.” Karkat whirled around to meet his best friend with a glare.  
“Not that bad? NOT THAT BAD?! Are you fucking deaf as well as high off your mind?!” Gamzee just smiled and stared back at his hot-headed friend.   
“I think I can hear all up and pretty motherfucking well Karbro.” Karkat groaned and resisted the tempting face palm that he usually required when indulging in conversation with Gamzee.   
“Well in any case, I’d better get back to my dorm. I’ve got an AP statistics exam I need to study for tomorrow.” Karkat grumbled dejectedly. As he began pulling his shoes on, the oven dinger went off and Gamzee rushed to its door, quickly putting on some oven mitts and pulling out the pie, it’s delicious, pastry scent wafting through the air.   
“Hold on bro, let me cut you a couple slices of this here miracle before you go. Maybe it will all up and help you calm your shit.” Karkat sighed, but stayed where he was. He could never refuse a Makara pie- they were the fucking shit.   
“Here ya go, brother. Keep your head and have a mirthful fucking night.” Karkat took the tin-foiled plate before him and grunted in response, throwing his bag over his shoulder and walking out.   
Gamzee lived in a different dorm building than Karkat; so the already exceptionally irritated blonde had to go back out into the rain and take about a twenty minute walk across campus to get to his own building. About half way through, the lightning streaked across the sky, brightening the night to an almost day-time appearance for a split second. Karkat groaned and pulled the collar of his sweater closer around his neck.   
Not far off, a woman was watching closely. It had only been a couple of days since she let her poor, lost warrior into the realm of the living. He had managed to find his way accordingly, letting the red strings of passion guide him to the one he loved. Although she had warned him that it would be difficult, her poor boy was taking his lover’s rejection quite poorly. Stuck in his human suit, he was not entirely comfortable; he could no longer lift off the ground and find solace in the weightless sky or go to his favorite places of comfort in the glistening castle in the heavens. He had to deal with the new and painful feelings that came with courtship, as it was becoming more and more likely that he would have to begin all over again. The Dolorosa then turned her attention to the cause of her poor soldier’s suffering. The pale boy had the temper of a man who’d lived far too long and far too unsatisfyingly. She could see from the glaring spark in his deep burgundy eyes his heart was quite pure and good-mannered. He just had the stubbornness of a mule. After recalling the life he’d first lived, the woman could tell his overall behavior and character had not been altered too badly…except for a troubling spot in his mind and his heart; it was a place she could not reach, a section of his soul that for some unknown reason, was concealed by a very powerful dark magic. The mother of the heroes frowned at this unsettling development. She would have to keep a close watch on that. But until she visited the couple again, she would resume her duties as the mother and watcher of the battlefield, and guide her soldiers to their home in the heavens.  
Karkat stumbled into his dorm room, fumbling with the lock, after a particularly loud clap of thunder and a bombardment of insufferable pricks in the hallway. The dorm room was dark, as he had expected, and so he turned on the light that let in a yellowish glow to the dull, grey kitchen. Karkat sighed and plopped his bag on the tiled floor that was in desperate need of some cleaning, kicked off his shoes, and put the pie down on the counter before heading to the back of the dorm, near his bedroom and bathroom, to dry the fuck off and take a hot shower.   
Karkat, tired and drained as he was, failed to notice the extra pair of black converse sneakers lying beside his own, or the red bag at the end of the usually unoccupied bed across from his own. He did, however, notice the slightly familiar figure sitting on said bed once he turned on the light. Striking white hair and expressionless black sunglasses engaged in a staring contest with Karkat’s own, startled and bewildered expression.   
“Sup, roomie.” The boy said from across the room. It took Karkat a second, but once he fully comprehended his situation, a growling began in his throat.   
“Oh, you have GOT to be FUCKING WITH ME!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya guys!!!!!! Thanks so much for reading this and im glad im getting some feed back! sorry this took so long to update, ill try comin out with the next chapter as soon as I can!!!! Thanks again!!!! -zexionienzo


	3. Take On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to update! holy crap. Also, this is a chapter that I wrote for my college course how cool is that????

“Well I would, but that doesn’t exactly strike me as a very good way to make a first impression on your new roommate, so.” Dave Strider was sitting on the bed assigned to him, in the room assigned to him, staring at the roommate he’d been assigned to. He didn’t know if it was the work of the Dolorosa, or the Fates, or some other-worldly being, but to whomever was responsible for placing him in dorm room 413, he was eternally grateful. For here before him, in all his fiery-raged glory, was Karkat Vantas. The boy who he had left alone on this Earth, the boy who had eluded him in the Hall of Light, save for that one, precious moment, the boy who he had sacrificed so much for in his early human days. Dave fondly remembered the first day they’d met; not so unlike this first day as well. He had just entered the school for the Hall of the Warriors, a privilege both he and his brother had been blessed with by none other than the Goddess Freyja, or, by her more commonly used name, Redglare.  
//FLASHBACKWOO// 

The massive, black marble statues stood strong and proud next to the smooth white walls of the hall they lined as Dave walked into the building that would change the course of his life forever. He knew that upon entry, he would master the arts of fighting, strategy and weaponry to become an unbeatable soldier. There were other students that wore the deep maroon-colored robes and tunics that were the standard for the school. Dave self-consciously pulled at the hem of his own grimy, torn, white tunic. He couldn’t wait to get those rad, red threads. 

Most of the students were the sons of wealthy or prodigious families, but Dave and his brother, with their eyes the color of blood and fire, the markings of the great fires, were given special admittance to the school in hopes of pleasing the gods. When Dave walked to the end of the hall, he was met by a woman with long black hair tied up and curled around a gold-platted laurel clad in a long, flowing green tunic. When the woman, who couldn’t have been much older than Dave himself, met his eyes, her own that had previously looked slightly drowsy, widened in surprise.  
“Oh! You must be Dave Strider. Am I correct in my assumptions? I am called Jade.” The girl enthusiastically smiled and curtsied before Dave, who nodded and returned her grin. Jade stood up, tall and beautiful, to lead Dave to his new room.  
“This is where you will sleep. If you do not wish to lounge in the recreation room, you may come here as well. There is a chest at the foot of your bed where you can keep your belongings. You must share your room with another student here; that’s his bed, and his chest. You’ll get to meet him later. But first! I’ll be in charge of your tour and then we must go to the seamstress’s quarters to get you fitted for a tunic or two!” 

The bubbly girl led Dave throughout the school, showing him the food hall, the weapons rooms and classrooms and recreational facilities, giving detailed accounts for each location until she was blue in the face. After they’d left the seamstress’s room, Jade brought an exhausted Dave back to his room and told him to rest up, his classes would start at sunrise. When he entered the room, he was so exhausted Dave didn’t notice that there was another figure laying in the bed next to his. Dave plopped down into his bed, the mattress soft and comfortable. He was nearly asleep when the figure in the other bed sat up, arms crossed and face looking stern in the filtered moonlight that came from a high window. 

“So are you just going to sit there and be rude and not introduce yourself, scumbag?” Dave shot up and looked at his roommate with wide, shocked eyes. The boy was about the same age as him, with pale skin that looked fresh and clean and smooth. His hair fell over his eyes in a messy, scraggly mess, as white as the moon and shined just as brilliantly in its light. Dave sat up and faced his new companion. 

“Sorry, I didn’t see you… My name is Dave Strider. I am pleased to meet your acquaintance.” Dave said, bowing as low as he could while still sitting in his bed. The boy on the other mattress made a “tch” noise with his mouth and looked out the window towards the moon. It was at that moment, with the moons’ light shining fully in his face, that Dave noticed the boy’s eyes to be of a shade of red so bright and pure, Dave, if he hadn’t known better, would’ve thought them to be unreal. 

“They call my Karkat. It was the name given to me by my birth parents, but no one seems to know who they are. I’ve lived here my whole life and if you ruin anything I’ve put in order here I will personally wreck your shit.” Dave, eyes wide with surprise, nodded his head. 

“Sounds fair.” And without taking a moment to think twice, Dave offered his hands to Karkat, palms opened to the sky as a sign of his vulnerability and openness to hopefully develop a friendship with this boy, eyes so like his own. Karkat stared at his hands for a moment, a look of begrudging stubbornness etched on his face; but after a long, drawn out moment, with Dave unrelentingly keeping his hands open, Karkat sighed and placed his own palms over Dave’s. 

“Go to sleep.” Karkat said after a moment, taking his hands away. “The first day is hard. But the second’s the worst. You’ll need your rest.” Dave let a smile spread across his face as he nestled back into his blankets, and fell asleep to the sound of his companion….Karkat’s shallow breaths of sleep.  
//ENDFLASHBACKWOOHOO//

Karkat was a bit more aggressive than he’d been in his previous life, Dave noted as the boy seethed and shouted at him to “shut the fuck up and explain what the fuck he was doing in his fucking dorm room”. Dave sighed and shrugged. If there was something he’d already learned, it was that Karkat did not like being messed around with. He was more of the brutal honesty type.  
“I came down from the heavens above to woo your ass and the Fates have gifted me with a bed next to yours.” Dave let a smirk grow on his face at the sight of Karkat’s bewildered expression. The darkly dressed boy turned around without another word and marched into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Dave laid back down on the bed, his legs dangling off the side.  
“Well it was worth a try.” 

Karkat took off all of his clothes methodically, mind reeling and head feeling hot. He was having quite probably one of the worst days of his life and what he needed, to clear his head and be able to walk back out of the bathroom without wringing Strider’s neck was a nice, long, hot shower. As he scrubbed over his skin and thoroughly rubbed his hair into a soapy lather, Karkat thought over the events of the day. It was just his luck that the weird creep from class would be his roommate. There was something just…eerily off about him. Like he didn’t belong. Karkat sighed and shook his head under the spray of water. But that was ridiculous; Strider was just another snobby rich kid whose parents paid for his every whim and desire- just like the rest of the assholes in this shit hole. 

After he’d dried off and went back out to his dorm room, Karkat went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, slicing out a piece of Gamzee’s pie. There was bound to be some kind of stress relief in this glorious desert, Karkat thought before taking a bite.  
“What’s that?” Karkat groaned; he’d hoped to have at least one moment or uninterrupted pie-eating bliss.  
“What the hell does it look like, you batshit brainless asswad?” Dave shrugged, his shades and unbreakable poker face still making him unreadable.  
“I don’t know. Some sort of pastry dish.” Karkat felt the irritation building as he shoved another piece of pie in his mouth.  
“Listen here you brainless fuckwad- I am not taking any of your shit. Don’t go playing dumb with me, it’s not going to win me over and it is just going to make you even more of an insufferable shit stain. So go do us both a favor and sit in the other room, nice and quiet and out of my way.” Dave stood there for a moment in silence, staring in what Karkat could only assume was his general direction; God he fucking hated those shades. 

The boy looked around for a moment before sitting down in a chair at the table pushed up against the grimy white wall of their now shared dorm room. Dave drummed his fingers lightly on the linoleum surface and smacked his lips. 

“I’m being one hundred percent serious with ya, Karkat. Never seen that in my life. But it smells good.” Karkat stopped. He stared at the kid in front of him. What the hell was this nookwhiffers problem?!

“ITS PIE YOU BLITHERING UGLY NOOKJERK. FUCKING. PIE.” Karkat slammed his plate on the counter, seething. This guy pulled and twisted him in all the wrong places. One more poked nerve and Karkat was going to strangle him so hard he’d be purple for two months. 

“Could I have a piece? It smells awfully fine. Did you make it?” Dave seemed completely unfazed by Karkat’s outburst, which only angered him further. But at that point, he was done dealing with the blubbering buffoon before him. Karkat turned around, slammed open one of his cupboards and grabbed a plate which he slammed down next to his won on the counter. He then took the knife out of the sink, and crudely cut through Gamzee’s pie, putting the pile of sugary goodness on Dave’s plate and slamming it down in front of him, followed by a fork that Karkat had a very, very difficult time NOT shoving into Dave’s smooth, white neck.  
While Karkat was turned around, slouching over the counter eating his own pie, Dave picked up the fork and turned it over in his palm before stabbing the delicious-looking pastry and shoving a piece in his mouth.

“Oh my Gods.” Karkat turned around, ready to throw a sarcastic remark back at his most loathed companion, but stopped when he saw the look on Dave’s face.  
The glasses were still on, so he couldn’t see his eyes; but Dave’s pale blonde, nearly white eyebrows had shot under his douche-bag bangs in shock, his mouth was slack jaw in amazement, and his hand that held his fork trembled slightly as he stared down at the pie Gamzee’d made. Slowly his head turned towards Karkat, and was that a single tear he saw falling down the shaded-boys face?

“This….this is amazing. I have never, in my life, tasted anything more marvelous.” Karkat’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You’ve seriously never had a piece of fucking pie before?” Dave nodded as he turned back to the pie and quickly took another bite. Around a mouthful of pie, he whispered, “Why are you so good?” As Dave coddled his pie as if it were his first born child, Karkat shook his head and went back to his own.  
O#O  
Dave was in the now shared bedroom unpacking what little things he had while Karkat paced around the small dorm restlessly. It wasn’t so much the fact that he had to share a room with someone… but just the fact that it was this Strider asshole, who carried himself like he was some god damned fucking hero or something that perturbed him. Strider was strange; he wasn’t like the other assholes at this shit hole of an educational dictatorship, and that irked Karkat. He couldn’t decide how to feel about this difference; he was so used to treating people like shit and being treated like shit in return, that he didn’t really know how to interact with someone in a civil manner. Karkat turned to find Dave leaning against the doorway, staring at him as he paced. 

“What the fuck are you staring at you cretinous shitcrisp?” Dave’s face tweaked into a kind of half-way smirk for a split second before going stoic once again. 

“A sexy motherfucker that’s what.” Karkat rolled his eyes and walked past this shit stained nookwhiffer that dared to breathe the same air as himself. 

“Wow, asshole.” Dave followed Karkat into the bedroom, where a couch and a T.V. were set up in the back and plopped down next to Karkat. The pair sat in an awkward silence for a while, Karkat shifting uncomfortably at their closeness. 

“So. What’s your major.” Karkat asked, grudgingly. Dave shifted so his arms were on the side and back of the couch, his body positioned openly towards Karkat’s. 

“Archeology. I like dead things.” Dave said with a shrug. 

“You?” Karkat scowled and looked away from this huge globe tickling shitmuffin. He didn’t want to be sociable and polite. He wanted to punch Dave Strider in the god damned throat, was that too much to ask?!

“Linguistics.” Dave nodded knowingly, annoying Karkat even more. 

“Who gave you all the money to get your ass in here mister “I’m going to be a famous archeologist when I grow up”? Mommy’s trust fund or Dad’s most recent paycheck?” Dave frowned and shook his head.

“’rents both died a long time ago. Got here on merit.” Karkat cringed, feeling a pang of guilt deep in his gut.

“Shit…sorry I guess…” Dave shrugged nonchalantly.

“Don’t sweat it, I was raised by my bro pretty much, well, that and boarding school. Them publics just couldn’t handle my cool.” Karkat rolled his eyes and silence fell over the two once more.  
Dave stared through his shades as Karkat up the remote from the floor and flicked to something on the television. Those moving-pictures appealed to him in a way no one would ever understand. It reminded him of the windows in the Hall of Light, which in turn reminded him of the glorious day he’d finally spotted his white-haired lover in the human realm below. “Well, right where I am now I suppose...” He thought to himself as he stared at the same white-haired boy out of the corner of his eyes. There were so many things that, observing him now, Dave could pick up in the old Karkat; his unwillingness to adjust to new things, his less than docile attitude towards people, and the way he paced around when he didn’t know what to think anymore. But there were new things too; like Karkat’s colorful language, the way he shouted at Dave ALL the time. Dave smirked, remembering how Karkat used to only get particularly shouty when he knew it was just the two of them alone. He always got quieter whenever they were around other people.  
The whole act of being around Karkat was making Dave feel like he was on top of the world, like anything could hit him at that moment and it wouldn’t matter because it had been so so so long, and it didn’t matter to Dave that Karkat couldn’t remember him, or even that Karkat seemed to despise him for being this new interruption in his life, he was tangible and he was there and Dave could see him, he could smell him, he could touch him, if he just reached out his hand a little bit. It was quite completely overwhelming, but Dave was doing his best to hold it all in, to make him seem as “normal” as possible. He knew from the past that Karkat didn’t like new, strange, unexplainable things. So laying low and slowly putting himself into Karkat’s life was the way he would have to go. Dave let a rare smile spread across his features as he watched Karkat yell at the screen about some crazy kids called “The Brady Bunch” whatever the Hel that meant. Dave would just have to woo Karkat like he did before; with his good looks and ironic charm. Nothing could stand in his way.


End file.
